Posts Tagged ‘Sludge’

‘Ambiance’ is the second full length record from Swiss sludgers Ølten, and they are building on their previous record ‘Mode’ with some great songwriting and a firm grasp of proper post metal dynamics. It is out now through Hummus Records.

Opener ‘Igelkott’ builds with the kind of clean menace you get from great post metal, like Isis. Isis are a great reference point for Ølten, as these guys mix the same styles of heavy/quiet with just as much grace and panache. Walls of noise fade in and out of distortion, while dense Neurosis riffs crush in the background. ‘Raus’ feels calmer and yet not, as there is that underlying hum that looms beneath the whole record. What I also like is how the record flows together like one continuous whole; each song is part of a larger entity and narrative that doesn’t need vocals to tell it. Highlights for me are the slow burn intro for ‘Gover’ and the tsunamic, grinding riffs of ‘Sludge’.

Ølten have really drawn deep from the well of classic 00s post metal, and when it is done this weel, you realise how much we all miss it. ‘Ambiance’ is a thing of beauty; strength and fragility melding into one glorious whole. If you miss Isis, or if you missed them entirely, you owe it to yourself to find this record.

Crawling for Carrion are a UK based sludge project, and their debut release is a two track EP made of covers. ‘Rake and Roads’ reintreprets ‘Rake’ by Townes Van Zandt and ‘Roads’ by Portishead, attempting to draw out the innate heaviness of them both. It is out now through Giganto Records, owned by the brainchild behind this project, multi-instrumentalist Chris West.

Now, these are two songs I have never heard, so I’m interested in what Crawling for Carrion do here. ‘Rake’ is a rumbling, soulful beast with a gravelly, crooning vocal performance from guest Jake Harding of Grave Lines. While not as heavy as I had anticipated, there is something really magical and uplifting about these poetic lyrics winding its way. The sinister layer of murk surrounding ‘Roads however feels much more in line with what you’d expect Portishead to sound like, slid through sludgy filters. Grinding riffs murmur under a ghostly performance by Vodun vocalist Chantal Brown, making this a very ethereal moment.

I like how Crawling for Carrion have done these tracks, and how they’ve worked hard in not only reimagining the originals but adding enough to create something new and interesting. ‘Roads’ is the better of the two, but this is a fine little release that is worth looking out for.

NOLA hardcore deathgrinders Mule Skinner left a 20 plus year gap between their underappreciated debut ‘Abuse’ and their latest slab of nastiness, ‘Airstrike’, and it feels like they haven’t missed a beat. An album that oozes with a confident and almost maniacal edge, it is out now through F.O.A.D. Records. Prepare yourself for half an hour of venomous power.

Savage violence is the name of the game here, with opener ‘Suicide Vest and the title track immediately striking you firmly across the face. Blasting carnage with hardcore roars pepper your ears, while the whole shebang is coated in this horrid, Lousiana murk. They’ve inherited that NOLA grime that has become somewhat of a trademark of that city’s music scene, and while the quick parts are killer, it is the descent into roiling, uncomfortable groove that really strikes me. ‘Chocking Agent’ gets both parts perfectly, while the razor sharp ‘Battle Worshiper’ comes with a layer of rust, designed not just to lacerate but also to infect.

A pioneer in the fertile breeding grounds of nihilism that NOLA became, Mule Skinner are as important as EyeHateGod and Soilent Green in this part of the world. ‘Airstrike’ should give them the platform to prove it once more. Imagine Terrorizer or Brutal Truth but covered in tar, and you’ll know what Mule Skinner are all about. Excellent stuff.

Dark, noisy sludgelords Vor have dragged themselves from the swampy, Spanish underground to bring us ‘Depravador’, a two man journey of apocalypse through music. Abrasive and violent, we are brought this latest release by Third I Rex Records.

The opening track showcases immediately the potency of this drums and bass combo, with dizzying low end throbbing with filthy, fuzzy tone. Hatred fuelled shrieks leap from behind each horrifying riff but this isn’t merely directionless noise. The grinding grooves of ‘Black Goat’ bring a very EyeHateGod vibe, while the crusty ‘Cudgel’ could sit comfortably on a Black Flag record. Vor’s music is diverse and heavy as fuck, never falling into one trick pony territory. Sludge meets noise meets hardcore punk attitude and the collision is nuclear.

The merciless, face destroying groove that permeates the filth encrusted monolith ‘Daga’ is only rivalled by the shrieking brutality of closer ‘Dark Fraga’. ‘Depravador’ is a record that pulses with a miasmic, tortured soul. It isn’t easy to categorise what Vor do, but it isn’t difficult to describe it. They contort, they disturb, they smother, they fucking rule.

British noise/sludge/drone enthusiasts Bodies on Everest have released this… this monstrous beast called ‘A National Day of Mourning. An abrasive mix of noise, drone and miserable sludge all compacted into one, it plows a new furrow in the search for extreme music’s farthest reaches. It is out now through Third I Rex Records.

Opener ‘Unreleaseddeathvideo.flac’ hums ominously, building towards a crumbling, cacophonous conclusion. Imagine what the opening of Hell might sound like, and you’re close. Apocalyptic samples float amongst the crackling feedback, while a clutching hand reaches fpr a thread of your psyche, ready to unravel it as the oppressive ‘Tally of Sevens’ crawls on. Imagine the blackened drone of Sunn0)))) melting into the most choking of Godflesh’s works and you’d be close. Imagine the rumble of Conan but filtered through tar and a black hole. Imagine Killing Joke and Iron Monkey make a record together, and you’d get the insistent nihilism of ‘Suspicious Canoe’.

Keep imagining, but you’ll never quite get close enough to really classify this aural miasma. The awesome crush of ‘Tally of Sevens’, the sinister storytelling of the monolith ‘Gold Fangs in Enemy Territory’, the ‘man in a robot insane asylum’ creeps of ‘Shotgun or Sidearm’; this is a record like nothing you’ve ever experienced. By the end of the mind crippling closer ‘Who Killed Yale Gracey’, you’ll never be the same. You will, however, be reaching for the play button just one… more… time…

Finland’s Lurk are due to release their new record, ‘Fringe’, at the start of August and it is a multifaceted, layered sludge doom record that incorporates elements of death metal and black metal into a churning whole. Transcending Obscurity is dropping yet another modern classic here, as Lurk take us to strange and alluring vistas of pain.

The baleful opening tones of ‘Ostrakismos’ feel very black metal; cold and gloomy. It has a perfect balance of innate heaviness and a glacial bleakness about it, with whispered growls lurking underneath. Dense and murky, ‘Tale Blade’ lurches forward with tar thick groove and a deathly roar powering it. Imagine coating this powerful beast in the gleaming blackness of Panopticon, or Wolves in the Throne Room and witnessing the soaring black metal presence. The grinding fury of ‘Offshoot’ is brutal, and the unsettling notes at the start of the stunning ‘Elan’ mixes well with the an almost soulful vocal. Both of those, of course, disappear into a void of trudging, suffocating nihilistic rage, crawling from a black filth. ‘Fringe’ is a record that encapsulates much of mankind’s darkest moments, but leaves enough spaces for the odd ray of ethereal hope to shine through.

Mysterious, ghostly but very much rooted in the soul of our blackened earth, Lurk’s magnificent carvings into the walls of sludge doom are a sight to behold. Cavernous yet fragile, visceral and yet soaring, ‘Fringe’ is an album unlike many others. It is capable of touching you in ways you didn’t expect, never losing that primal heft. A unique addition to 2018’s canon of excellent records.

A solo project from Chicago noise/sludge trio Escape is Not Freedom bassist Josh Parlette, Soul Attrition’s debut has been described as a combination of post metal, grunge and sludge, focusing on haunting melody and pummelling riffs to create something emotional and driving. Sound pretty good to me so far! It is out on the 13th of July this year.

The cool, fuzzy riff that opens ‘Sinking’ instantly adds a dash of Alice in Chains in there, but without that Staley snarl it feels softer. Rumbling post metal and sludge riffs underpin most of this record, with the solid ‘Thirteen’ bringing to mind Kylesa’s soulful earthiness. ‘Vashon Rain’ is a record full of this wistful introspection, a desire for something just beyond its reach. The ghostly ‘Fatal Flaw’ is excellent; imagine latter Katatonia meeting mid period Kylesa and you’re about there.

‘Vashon Rain’ has a melancholic edge to it that is a real change from the more barbed, raging vibe that a lot of sludge/post-metal groups do. In some places, it does lack the heaviness that I think it needs but in its place there is a definitive identity and a fragility that is noteworthy. I think Soul Attrition have placed fine and solid foundations on which to compose what could be a masterpiece.